Piyush Goyal lashes out at Opposition’s protest against US-India trade deal; says Rahul Gandhi is making baseless allegations

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal today lashed out at the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for “speaking falsehoods” and making “baseless allegations” against the US-India trade deal.

In a video message posted past midnight on X, Goyal assured farmers that their interests are fully secured today and will always be protected forever, while adding that “Rahul Gandhi no has no concern for Maa bharat or the well being of our farmers and youth.”

“He has broken all records of speaking falsehoods and making baseless allegations. He is misleading our farmers with his fake narrative and trying to provoke our annadatas. He has never cared for our motherland, nor can we expect him to work for a strong and prosperous future for India,” Goyal said in the video message.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji has always been empathetic towards our kisan brothers and sisters. He has always put the interest of farmers first and taken all decisions to ensure their prosperity. Modi ji has implemented several schemes which have transformed the lives of crores of farmers,” Goyal said.

US’s flip flop on pulses led to controversy

It may be noted that the preliminary trade deal between India and the US was announced on February 2 and an interim statement was issued later.

The government has said the final deal will be signed next month. However, US’s references to pulses in the trade deal stoked controversy. Later, it deleted the reference to pulses from the list of its agricultural exports qualifying for tariff cuts under the deal.  

In the revised statement, the US also softened the $500 billion exports commitment from India in the next five years. Congress-led Opposition has raised two major concerns leading to furore in the parliament this week. The first one is interests of the farmers and the other one being relations with Russia in the wake of the US trade deal.

Farm interests kept paramount in India-US trade deal: Goyal

Goyal, in the video message, said the deal has kept the interests of the domestic farmers paramount. “In the recent trade deal with the United States of America, the interests of farmers have been kept paramount and fully protected,” he said.  

“In this agreement, all major crops of our farmers, including wheat, rice, millets, soyameal, corn, GM food products, spices, potato, have been fully safeguarded. We have also fully protected the interests of farmers producing major fruits including apples. India's doors have not been opened to dairy products or poultry,” Goyal added.

“The truth is that many of our products, including basmati rice, fruits, spices, tea, marine products, and many more will find new markets, increase exports & boost  farmers' incomes,” he said in the video address.

“We have opened huge markets for cotton textile exports which will increase the demand for cotton manifold, benefiting cotton farmers. Every decision taken in the trade deal is in the best interests of Maa Bharat, and 140 crore Indians including our farmers and youth,” Goyal added.  

“The US trade deal will benefit the farmers with higher export of farm output and increased demand leading to higher prices and prosperity of the farmers,” he added.

Indo-US trade deal to severely impact Indian farmers: Rahul Gandhi

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Indo-US deal would severely impact Indian farmers, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “opened the doors” of the country’s agriculture market to foreign players at the cost of domestic producers.

Addressing the issue, Gandhi said corn, soybean, cotton and fruit growers would be the first to suffer, and alleged that the government would eventually open the entire farm sector to foreign interests. The standoff between the government and the opposition continues in the parliament.